Method and apparatus for manufacturing radiator-tubes



G. F. COOKE.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING RADIATOR TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED APR, 9, I919.

Patented May 4, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

Fig!

G. F. COOKE.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING RADIATOR TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9. 1919.

1,339 104 Patented May 4, 1920. v EETSSHEET 2.

' To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE FREDERICK COOKE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 BRITISH AUTOMO- BILE EQUIPMENT COMPANY LIMITED, 0] MIIONDON, ENGLAND.

METHOD AND APIPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING RADIATOR-TUBES.

Specification 0! Letters Patent.

Patented May 4, 1920.

Application filed April 9, 1919. Serial No. 288,883.

Be it known that I, GEORGE Comm, 9. subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 2 Fairfax road, Bedford Park, London England, have invented a new and useful Method and Apparatus for Manufacturing Radiator-Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to radiators such as are employed in connection with internal combustion motors and to that class of radiator which is built up of a number of tubes each formed by folding a strip of metal along the center of its'length the middle portion-of such folded strip constituting a tube while the side portions are pressed to-- gether and corrugated.

The main object of .my invention is to provide a construction of tube of this type in which the shape of the corrugated portion is such that it can be obtained in one operation by drawing or rolling, the invention also comprising a machine whereby this 'operation can be carried out.

To, this end, according to the invention, I provide a machine which comprises a bedplate or frame carrying at its upper part what I term an anvil, which is preferably arranged-at an inclination to the horizontal and along or down which the. metal strip to be treated is passed. This anvil is of a shape resembling an upright blade or tongue with its upper end tapering on both sides. so that in cross section the said upper end is of approximately triangular shape with rounded apex. In conjunction with this anvil I provide a roller the periphery of which is grooved'to a shape corresponding to that of the taper upper end of the anvil with which the said grooved periphery engages, in such a manner that when the metal strip or sheet to be worked is passed down the anvil between it and the roller, it is folded or bent to a shape corresponding to that of the anvil. The anvil extends beyond the periphery of the roller and guides the folded or bent metal sheet between a pair of oppositely rotating helical rollers which are arranged with their axes parallel and in a horizontal plane, and the helices of which are respectively right and left hand and mesh together.

As the fold d metal sheet is fed between the pair of helical rollers, it has imparted to it, at its lower portion the corrugated FREDERICK gating.

shape, the two leaves of the folded metal sheet being pressed together at the lower end and forming a series of corrugations or pockets alternately on either side. 7

The contacting ends of the metal sheet or strip are secured together either by solder, or by electric welding or in any other suitable way, and the series of tubes thus prepared is built up to form a radiator by assemblin the said tubes alternately in op posite directions in the known manner.

To enable the invention to be fully understood I will describe it by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure lis a central longitudinal section of a machine for the production of corrugated 'itubesqaccording to the invention, and Fig. 2 is a sectional end view thereof, the section being taken on the line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view, the section being taken on the line 3-3, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view drawn to alarger scale illustrating the operation of corru- Fig. 5 is a sectional view of one of the corrugated tubes, and

Fig. 6- is a view similar to Fig. 5 show ing four tubes assembled together in the manner to form a radiator.

a indicates the bed-plate or frame of the machine and 7) is the so-called anvil, which is mounted upon the said plate a; and secured thereto by the screws 6 The said anvil is of the shape indicated in the drawing, that is to say, it comprises a bottom or base with an upright blade 5 the upper edge of which is inclinedto the horizontal and is more or less triangular in cross section with a rounded apex. c is the roller which cooperates with the anvil b and d is the peripheral groove provided therein, the said groove being of a shape in cross section which corresponds with the taper blade 6 of the anvil b with which it meshes as clearl r shown. The roller 0 is keyed upon the sha e which is mounted in bearings 6 f and g are the two helical rollers for efi'ectin the corrugating operation, the axes of whic rollers are arranged parallel to one another in a horizontal plane and the helices of which are right and left hand, respectively, and mesh together as clearly shown in Fig. 3. These rollers are mounted in bearings h on either end of the bed-plate a, which bearings are adjustably mounted v the shape of the upper part b of the said thereon so that the distance betwen the said rollers can be adjusted, as may be required, according to the gage of the metal strip being operated upon.

he rollers c, f and g are driven from the upright shaft i which is furnished with a worm j gearing with the worm-wheel 7c keyed upon the roller shaft 6 and with a worm-wheel l which ears with a helical wheel on upon the he ical roller which helical wheel is in mesh with a simi ar wheel a upon the other roller By the described construction-the upper roller 0 is turned and simultaneously with this movement the two rollers f and g are rotated in opposite directions.

The machine operates as follows, that is to say, the sheet or'strip of metal A to be corrugated is moved down the inclined anvil b so as to pass between the said anvil and the roller 0 which folds it over or curves it. to

anvil, as shown in .2. After passin between the roller and anvil the folde sheet comes into engagement with the heli-.

cal rollers f and g which im art to it the corrugated shape indicated y the shade lines 1n Fig. 1, and also seen in cross section in Figs. 5 and 6, the operation by which these corrugations are obtained being illustrated clearly in Fig. 4. As will be understood, the folded metal sheet asses between the helical rollers at an incllnation to the axes of the latter, the complete depth from top to bottom of the corrugation not being at once obtained but only gradually as the strip passes between the said rollers.

As above described, he meeting edges of the corrugated tube are secured together in,

any convenient way and, in' practice solder may be forced through a jet secured to the machine at the inner end of the helical roll ers, the solder spreading between the contacting edges of the strlp which is heated sufficiently to melt the solder.. Any other suitable method of connecting the tube edges may, however be adopted, such as electric welding.

Fig. 6 illustrates the method of forming a radiator from a series of tubes made in accordance with the invention, and, as will be seen, the tubes are arranged alternately 1n opposite directions, that is to sa with the narrow end of one in contactwit the broad or base end of the ad'acent tubes, the result being that a series 0 tubes with a series of through passages are obtained.

' It will be seen that tubes made as above described possess a relatively large cooling surface and offer little resistance to the passage of the air, or other cooling medium, by

tubes from a single sheet or strip of metal,

the steps of folding the-strip into approximately V-shape to form 0 posite side ortions, then corrugating an lacingthe ongitudinal edges of said si e portions to-' gether, and maintaining the parts of the side portions adjacent the fold in spacedrelation during the corrugating stepto provide a longitudinal passa e.

2. A machine for ro ucing corrugated tubes from sheet meta com rising'ananvil and a .co-acting' grooved ro ler for folding the metal sheet or stri in combination with a pair of helical ro ers which mesh tother, the axes of which are parallel and t e helices of which are right and left hand, respectively, for corrugating the folded metal strip, and means for rotatin the grooved roller-and the corrugating ro ers, substantially as hereinbefore described. 3. In a method of manufacturing radiator tubes from'a sin 1e sheet or strip of metal, the steps of foldmg the strip into a proximately -V-shape to form opposite si e por-' tions, then applyin pressure dies to the edge portions of sai s1de portions to force the longitudinal edges together and corrugate them transversely, and maintaining the parts of the side portions adjacent the fold 1n spaced relation 'durin the corrugating step to ovide a longitu inal assage.

' GEORGE FREDERIC COOKE. 

